COLUMBUS—Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced on March 8 that Norfolk Southern Corporation has agreed to his idea to improve and expand firefighter training by creating a new first responders training center and expanding its Operation Awareness & Response (OAR) program, which travels the company’s 22-state network and trains first responders on how to respond safely to rail incidents.
“The derailment in East Palestine made clear that ensuring first responders are prepared for disasters involving hazardous materials is vitally important to the safety of communities,” said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. “Often first responders are volunteers, and their need to have the most up-to-date training and equipment is essential. Today’s commitment by Norfolk Southern is an important next step in the company’s commitment to make the citizens of Ohio and of East Palestine whole after the recent derailment, a commitment Ohio will continue to monitor closely.”
The new safety training center’s mission will be focused on providing additional, free training for first responder across the region, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. This effort will also strengthen coordination between railroads and first responders in the event of an emergency response.
FINDLAY—The Lima News has reported that Dante Tate, 19, has been sentenced following his pleading guilty on charges related to the March 31, 2022 death of Bluffton Police Officer Dominic Francis.
Hancock County Common Please Judge Reginald Routson sentenced Tate to prison terms of 15 months on two counts, to be served consecutively. The counts are complicity to receiving stolen property and receiving stolen property.
The State of Ohio has launched new dashboards to better track and report data on overdose deaths and other substance-use related measures for all 88 Ohio counties. (Integrated Behavioral Health Dashboard)
These statewide dashboards were adopted and expanded from dashboards created through the National Institutes of Health-funded HEALing Communities Study. Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine initially developed community-tailored, data-driven dashboards that included opioid overdose deaths and other opioid use disorder-related measures for 18 counties in Ohio. (2017-2021 Allen County totals)
Using the public health data in these dashboards, communities partnered with researchers to determine which evidence-based interventions to implement to reduce overdoses and opioid misuse. Based on the success of these dashboards in the initial 18 counties in the study, the State of Ohio with RecoveryOhio has now implemented them statewide.
